Hush Little Child
by WrappedInNight
Summary: Natasha goes radio silent during a mission, and no one on the team has any idea what happened. Tony can see her from the sky, crouched down with something wrapped in a grubby cloth clutched to her chest. What exactly does Natasha have with her that's worth her hiding out during a fight?
1. Natasha's Distraction

Tony wasn't doing as well as he'd like to admit. The fact that he had gotten less than ten hours of sleep total this past week combined with the hangover from last night's drinking had left him extremely ill prepared for the days mission.

The team had split up after they met up in the middle of the city. Tony hadn't been paying attention when Fury had told them where they were being sent, so he really had no idea where they were.

Basically the only thing he knew about this mission was that they were going after terrorists, and that was only because Steve had told him that on the drive here.

It took about a half hour before had successfully and unintentionally found and provoked the terrorists. All it took was the whole team standing right in front of them and the guys were attacking full force.

Bruce had stayed behind on the plan to avoid bringing out the big guy, and all the Avengers were fitted with microphone headsets so they could keep in touch.

From what Tony could hear through his built in system was that everyone had found cover safely. Tony was currently hovering over the terrorists little set up, blasting here and there when he saw a mask or a bomb.

Unfortunately, he was also simultaneously dodging fire.

"Guys, sound off?" Tony, unlike the others, didn't have to yell into his mic to be heard. Unfortunately for him and his fancy headset helmet, the others did.

"Captain America on offense, taking cover behind Tony's car!" Steve yelled into his mic, oblivious to Tony's shriek as he noticed the multiple but the many bullet holes and shield shaped dents in his favorite sports car.

"Hawkeye on offense, currently in position on the roof a block from Cap!" Clint was quieter than Steve, being further from the noise. He only yelled in the first place so his teammates in louder situations could hear him alright.

"I'm still on the ship," Bruce almost whispered, no doubt upset he wasn't able to help his team without risking danger to the civilians. Tony clicked his tounge in sympathy.

"Thanks for the contribution, buddy." Tony shot at what looked like a truck of explosives, which in turn caused the truck to obliterate itself into millions of chunks of shrapnel.

Huh. Tony looked around, as if to make sure someone had been watching.

"That's was totally and most definitely on purpose, just for the record." He ignored the sighs of the others on the ground as a realization struck him.

"Guys," he stopped firing and hovered. "Where's Natasha?" There was a solid ten seconds of radio silence before the mics all went off at once.

"Natasha?"

"Natasha?!"

"Natasha!"

"NATASHA!" The four avengers simultaneously, and in varying levels of concern and confusion, yelled into their headsets.

There was still no response. Tony was shocked out of his concern by a sudden impact from a projectile aimed by on eof the men below.

He let out a grunt as the impact sent his suit off course, dropping a few yards and almost flipping before Tony managed to reactivate the stabilizers.

He could hear Rogers, Barton, and Banner still yelling to the headsets for Natasha. However, Tony was instantly relieved by the sight almost a block or two from his current position.

"Hey team, I found the deserter!"

"Where!?" Tony winced, shaking his head to stop the ringing in his ears.

"Hey, be nice. She's in front of the building Clint on, looks like she's taken cover behind a van." The team was silent. Natasha hiding wasn't a concept any of them had ever even considered.

"Who's going to go investigate?" Steve asked, throwing his shield up and over the once shiny sports car that had become a shooting target.

"I'm a little indisposed at the moment," Clint had resumed his sniping, covering for the others closer to the action.

"I don't think I can get out from behind this car longer than it takes to catch and throw. Tony?"

"On it," Tony angled himself away from his position and towards where Natasha was crouched beside a black van parked along the street in front of an ally.

As he got closer, he noticed the bulge in Natasha's arms. The thing was covered in a dirty, grubby old blanket.

Natasha barely seemed to notice him approaching, which he did slowly and semi-loudly so he didn't startle the trained assassin.

"Ninna Нанна, Ninna ой. К кому я даю этот ребенок?"

Tony froze mid-step. Was Natasha.. singing?

" Если я отдам его старой ведьмой, Она будет держать его в течение недели."

Tony resumed his approach. He was maybe ten yards away from her now."

"Если я отдам его пугало, Он будет держать его в течение всего года."

He was maybe five yards away. Now he noticed her rocking whatever was in her arms. Tony held his breath and took another step.

"Если я отдам его в то время как волк, Он будет держать его в течение длительного."

Tony crouched, just within arms length of the deadly assassin in front of him.

"Natasha?" He almost whispered it, afraid to interrupt whatever sort of trance his teammate was in.

"Он будет держать его в течение длительного времени. феи Колыбельная сна Отправить мой ребенок спать."

Natasha finished her song, glancing up at Tony before returning her gaze to the bundle in her arms.

Tony raised an eyebrow, scooting forward a bit while he was still crouched. He froze in place when he heard Natasha.. growl? His gaze shot up to hers, and he almost fell back on his hands and butt in reaction the glare she was giving him.

He barely registered her arms tightening around her wrapped possession, holding it closer to her body as she continued to stare down Tony.

He raised his hands, slowly backing away from Natasha. He didn't relaxed until he was well out of range of the assassin.

Tony didn't move for almost twenty minutes, silently observing Natasha as she continually rocked the bundle and sang Russian lullabies to it.

"Stark, what's going on?" Tony jumped backwards in surprise, colliding with a pair of patriotic clad legs. He looked up at Steve.

"I have absolutely no idea." He raised his hands in defense, then gestured to Natasha. Clint appeared on Tony's other side, looking just as confused as Tony felt.

"Natasha?" Clint took a step forward, cocking his head to the side in question.

Tony prepared himself for another viscous growl, thoroughly disappointed when Clint had less trouble than he did approaching Natasha.

Steve and Tony watched in apprehension as Clint knelt next to Natasha and pulled the old blanket back to get a glimpse of what Natasha was so possessive - no, protective - over.

Tony flinched when Natasha suddenly tightened her arms again around the thing, and he actually took a step back when she growled at Clint.

"She growled at him too. They're like, best friends. Do you realize how close I must have come to death earlier?" Tony whispered to Steve, who simply rolled his eyes at the supposed genius.

Clint stood up, pale faced as he turned and made his way slowly back to his confused team mates.

"Well?" Steve asked while Tony continued to hide behind him and apparently make faces at Natasha.

Clint shook his head.

"Were not going anywhere for a while guys. And Natasha's not leaving unless Tony makes an addition to her floor at Stark Tower."

Tony stood on his tiptoes behind Steve, raising his eyebrows. Steve had a similar look on his face.

"And, uh, why would I be doing that?' Tony raised both eyebrows this time.

Clint sat down on a nearby bench, bringing his hand to his face and rubbing at his temples.

He took a deep breath, then let put a sigh. "Natasha found a kid in the ally."


	2. I'll Protect You

Natasha hadn't planned on hiding during the whole mission, crouched away from her teammates with the child wrapped in her arms.

She's only been trying to get to Steve to try and help her team mate when she'd heard the cries from the alleyway between two buildings.

Being the attentive, curious woman she was, Natasha hadn't even questioned herself when she approached the ally, searching for the source of the cries.

She could hear her struggling team through the headset, but her thoughts were focused on the sobbing child laying on an old, ratty mattress and covered in a dirty, dingy grey blanket. The child was shaking, pulling the blanket around themselves as they continued to sob.

Natasha covered the mic on her headset so she would distract the team as she slowly approached the child. She felt emotions start to build up in her chest, and she started to recall why she tended to avoid situations like this.

"Hello?" She asked gently, alerting the child to her presence. They immediately sat up, fear and shock flashing through their eyes as they took in Natasha's battle ready form. Natasha tried to think of ways to make herself look less harsh, relaxing her form a bit and adopting a more natural pose over her traditional soldier stance.

She crouched down a few feet away from the girl, who looked about three years old. She had light brown, almost dirt-blonde hair, and bright green eyes. The poor thing was also covered in filth, and the rags she wore were torn in more places than they were whole.

"Where are your parents?" Natasha asked, as gently as possible as she carefully reached out for the little girl. "Are you alone here?" Her hand was just within reach of the child's arm.

The girl burst into tears again, contorting her dirt caked face as streaks began to make their way down her round cheeks and started to drip off her chin. Natasha rushed forward just as the girl collapsed, scooping her up just in time.

The girl continued to cry, feebly struggling against Natasha as the latter started rocking her back and forth. The headset fell from its place on her head, and Natasha felt slightly sorry when she heard it crunch beneath her feet as she took a step forward.

However, Tony could easily make a new headset, and Natasha was more focused on the girl in her arms. She carefully bent down to retrieve the blanket the girl had been wrapped in previously, grimacing at the state of the ratty thing but folding it around the precious child in her arms.

"Ninna Нанна, Ninna ой. К кому я даю этот ребенок?" Natasha continued to rock the still crying toddler as she slowly made her way out of the alleyway.

"Если я отдам его старой ведьмой, Она будет держать его в течение недели." She carefully sat down beside a black van parked along the road, hiding herself just enough from the battle in front of her so that she wouldn't be spotted by the terrorists.

"Если я отдам его пугало, Он будет держать его в течение всего года." Glancing down, she noticed that the little girl's eyes had started to drift closed, and that her cries were almost non-existent. Natasha smiled to herself as she continued to sing the Russian lullaby.

"Если я отдам его в то время как волк, Он будет держать его в течение длительного." Natasha couldn't even remember the last time she herself had heard this lullaby, let alone sang it to someone. The child wriggled a bit in her arms, reaching up and grabbing hold of the collar of her suit. Natasha couldn't help the smile that formed on her face.

"Он будет держать его в течение длительного времени. феи Колыбельная сна Отправить мой ребенок спать." Finishing the song, Natasha leaned down, letting her forehead rest on the top of the toddlers head. She felt a small smile again force its way onto her face as the girl let out a small, quiet hum of contentment. The noise was a far cry from the sobs that had been emanating from the child not five minutes ago, and Natasha found herself being amazed at how fast the girl had calmed down.

She tightened her arm around the bundle on her lap, frowning as she felt how emaciated the child was. Fury ripped through her as she fond herself cursing whoever had abandoned the innocent little thing she was currently cradling. If Natasha ever found the person that had left the girl on her own in an alleyway with nothing but a worn out mattress and a ratty blanket, they would have hell to pay.

"Я буду защищать тебя сейчас малышка" Natasha whispered to the sleeping, content child.

She started her song over, desperate to keep the girl asleep and happy. Still fuming from the realization of the girls abandonment, Natasha wasn't sure how she felt when she saw Tony touch down from the corner of her eye.

She kept her view on the girl, feeling content to just look at her peaceful features. She didn't miss Tony cautiously approaching her, trying to get her attention. She started to shift her focus from the girl to him as he got closer and closer. She didn't know why, but she was growing nervous as the scientist approached. She tightened her hold on the little girl.

She wasn't sure why she was so apprehensive, but it flashed though her thoughts that back when she was a little girl, everything she loved had been taken from her. She felt an odd attachment to the little girl in her arms, and she didn't want her to be taken from her as well.

As Tony reached for the edge of the ratty blanket, all trust in her teammate evaporated and Natasha growled at him through her teeth. She glared at him as he fell backwards, almost crawling away from her in haste.

She hadn't noticed that she had stopped rocking until the child started to squirm again. Natasha resumed comforting the girl, desiring to let her sleep in the safety of her arms for as long as possible.

She let Clint get closer than Tony had, enough that he could catch a glimpse of her precious bundle. But even Clint's closeness got to be too much. Her glares sent him back to where Tony and Steve waited. Natasha returned her attention the child as the team seemed to talk things over, exchanging a mixture of worried and confused glances towards her.

However, their glances had no affect on Natasha as she found herself getting pulled deeper and deeper into her growing affection for the toddler she was cradling. She hadn't known it was possible to feel this way for someone, especially not for a toddler she had met at most twenty minutes ago.

After the procedure during her initiation, Natasha had given on the possibility of having children. Of loving. Those doubts were blown away by the draw she felt to the homeless, abandoned girl.

All of sudden, Natasha stood up from her position and started to walk towards the startled Avengers. A small part of the assassin grinned as she noticed Tony jump behind Steve as she approached, but the amusement was brushed aside as she continued her determined stride towards Clint.

She stopped just in front of what she had come to appreciate as her best friend, re-positioned the child so she could hold her more comfortably.

Clint glanced down at the girl before returning his gaze to Natasha's, eager to hear her explanation./

"Let's go home," Natasha said simply before starting towards where the two remaining cars were parked.

Behind her, Clint drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "With the kid?"

He rushed after Natasha, leaving Tony and Steve to try and piece together what was happening. Needless to say, everyone was confused.

Natasha simply nodded. "She's mine now, I've adopted her," She aimed a steely glare at the three men behind her, "Do you have a problem with that?" They all hastily shook their heads no, and Natasha gave them a satisfied nod before continuing on her previous path.

She slid into the passenger seat of the car she and Clint had shared on their way to the mission, still refusing to let go of her new daughter. Instead she situated the girl so that she sat bridal style across her lap. Clint gave her a quick, questioning look before settling into the drivers seat.

They sat in silence for a moment, watching as Tony and Steve fought over who got to drive the remaining car.

Clint cleared his throat. "So uh," he glanced at Natasha, and she tightened her grip on the girl in her lap. Clint ran his fingers through his hair before continuing. "So whats my new god-daughters name?"

Natasha was slightly surprised at the question, although she didn't show it. She expected some remark on what the hell she thought she was doing, or why she felt the need to take in the homeless toddler. Recovering quickly, Natasha glanced down at the sleeping girl before turning towards Clint.

"Her name's Наталья," She answered with a smile. "Natalia."


	3. Hey Kiddo

The drive back to the hotel was mostly uneventful. The team was cutting the trip back to Stark tower short so Natalia wouldn't be in the car for the entire fifteen hour drive.

Natalia slept on Natasha's lap, positioned between her and the dash. She was still wrapped in the grubby blanket from the alley, much to Clint's distaste.

He wanted to get her to the hotel as quickly as possible so Natasha could clean her up and he could go buy her a new blanket and outfit. The rags the child was wearing at the moment definitely didn't cut it.

As Natasha hummed to Natalia to keep her calm and asleep, Clint tried his best to focus on the road. He found himself glancing at Natalia's peaceful features more often than he'd like to admit. He was growing more understanding of Natasha's connection to the little girl.

It wasn't until they had stopped at their hotel that Natalia actually woke up. The first thing she did was start screaming.

"Natalia, Natalia calm down!" Clint had thrown himself against his car door in surprise when the girl started screaming. "Natalia, we aren't going to hurt you!" Natasha opened her door so she could get out and stand.

Natasha was trying to calm Natalia down, who was struggling to be put down and left alone. The shock of waking up somewhere strange had really had an impact on her.

Clint didn't know what to do. He felt helpless, watching Natasha struggle with the girl Clint had started to feel a growing affection towards.

Natasha felt helpless as well.

"Самолёт построим сами," She tried rocking Natalia again, signing another Russian lullaby.

"Понесёмся над лесами." She looked towards Clint, who simply shrugged his shoulders, eyes wide as Natalia continued to scream.

Natasha re-positioned Natalia, wrapping one hand around back to pin her to her chest, and gently placing the other hand around the base of her neck to pull her closer.

Clint rushed forward, grabbing the old blanket from where it had landed the floor and gently wrapped it around the child, glad he could do something to help.

"Понесёмся над лесами," Natasha gave Clint a grateful glance before returning her attention to Natalia, who had begun to settle down.

Natalia, who was starting to recover from her initial shock, slowly replaced her screams with quiet crying.

Natasha leaned against the side of Tony's sports car, gratefully rubbing Natalia's back as she started to calm down.

"А потом вернёмся к маме." Natasha kissed Natalia's head, scrunching her nose at the smell of her dirty hair. "We've got to get you to the bath tub," She smiled at the little girl.

Natalie rubbed her red eyes, sniffing as her crying finally stopped.

Clint gave a relieved sigh as he collapsed against the car next to Natasha. Natalia turned her gaze from Natasha to Clint, staring at him in wonder from Natasha's arms.

"Hey kiddo," He bopped her on the nose. Natasha laughed at the action, and Natalia let a very small, almost silent giggle.

Clint himself chuckled before turning to retrieve his and Natasha's luggage from the trunk of their car.

Tony and Steve pulled into the hotel parking lot, Tony sitting in the passenger seat with his arms crossed and his face in exaggerated pout.

As soon as Steve parked Tony opened his door and launched himself out. "You drive like a grandpa!" He yelled at Steve, who simply chuckled as he popped the trunk and reached for his suitcase.

Tony grabbed his own briefcase before he noticed Natasha holding a very upset Natalia. His face lit up, apparently excited at seeing the little girl awake and quiet. He rushed to where the pair was leaning up against his sports car, leaving Steve to converse with Clint.

"What's up kid?" Tony reached over, ruffling Natalia's hair. Upset by a lack of response, he crouched down so he was face to face with her and then contorted his face and stuck his tongue out.

Natalia giggled at him before turning and burying her face in Natasha' s chest.

Tony grinned in success. "She's pretty cute when she's awake," He grinned at Natasha, and then ruffled Natalia's hair again before turning to follow Steve and Clint into the hotel lobby.

Natasha tried to move Natalia onto her hip so she could follow her team, but Natalia gently but firmly pushed against her.

"Down," Natasha almost missed the quiet whisper, surprised at the sound.

"Okay, do you want to walk?" She bent over, setting Natalia gently down on her feet and handing her her blanket.

Natalia reached up for Natasha's hand, who gladly took it. She didn't realize how unsettling it was to have Natalia out of her arms.

Inside, Tony was flirting with the girl at the counter. Steve and Clint were off to the side, rolling their eyes as they waited for him with their luggage. Clint turned his head when Natalia walked in with Natasha, a grin forming on his face as he made his way over to her.

"Hey, Natalia." He crouched down and bopping her nose again. Natalia giggled shyly, reaching out with her little hand and splaying it across Clint's nose.

"Boop," Natalia whispered in her quiet voice, surprising Clint.

"She talks," He looked up towards Natasha who nodded.

"I think she can say a few words, she just doesn't like to talk much." She turned to Steve, "Do we have rooms?" Steve nodded.

"The hotel only allows two adults to a room, so Tony and Clint are together, and you and I are sharing a room." He held up his room key, gesturing to the ceiling. "Were room 205."

Natasha's Lullaby:

We build an airplane.  
We'll soar above the forests,  
We'll soar above the forests,  
And then we'll come back to mama.


	4. Cuddles

Natalia got tired before the team made it all the way up the stairs. Natasha had no problem picking her up and carrying her the rest of the way, as she had started getting restless having the toddler out of her arms.

Being back in the comfort of Natasha's hold, and being rocking by the natural movement of her hips as she walked, Natalia quickly fell asleep.

"She's exhausted, huh?" Tony lightly ran his fingers through the sleeping girls hair. Natasha shot him a glare.

"Yes, she is. Don't wake her up," She put a hand over the back of Natalia's head, blocking her from her the view of her fellow avengers.

Tony raised his hands before quickening his pace so he was ahead of Natasha, choosing instead to walk next to Steve.

Clint replaced Tony by Natasha's side. "She's really peaceful when she's sleeping," He reached over and lightly ran his finger across the sleeping girls cheek. Natasha tried to hide the small smile that flashed across her face, but unfortunately for her, Clint was just as perceptive as she was.

"Don't think I didn't see that smile," He grinned at Natasha who rolled her eyes before smiling back.

Steve stopped up ahead of them. "You guys are up there three rooms, Natasha and I are in here." He gestured first to the hallway ahead of them, then at the door he had stopped at.

"Yeah, yeah. We need to wake up decently early tomorrow if we want to make it back to the carrier before lunch." He glanced at the Stark pad he'd pulled out of his bag. "I haven't told Fury about the kid yet, figured I'd let the master assassin handle the scary bit." He grinned at Natasha before grabbing his luggage off the ground and starting towards his room.

Clint leaned down, kissing Natalia on the cheek before heading towards the room with his own bags, handing Steve Natasha's single suitcase.

Steve pushed open his and Natasha's hotel door, holding it open so she could carry Natalia through. Then he closed the door as quietly as he could and locked it, ignoring the glares Natasha shot him as the the click sounded through the silent room.

Natasha gently leaned down and set Natalia on the bed, trying her hardest not to wake her.

"She's really out," Steve sounded surprised. "I can't believe she fell asleep on the walk up here."

Natasha nodded. "She's been through a lot, and I think today was a little too exciting for her. She's probably pretty exhausted," Natasha straightened up and stretched, making Steve wince as her back popped.

"I'm going to go grab some ice, do you want anything from the vending machine?" Steve knew they didn't need any ice, but he was slightly desperate to get out of the room. The silence was getting uncomfortable. Natasha shook her head.

"I'm going to wake Natalia up in a minute and give her a bath," She sat down on the edge of the bed.

Steve nodded before grabbing the empty ice bucket and quietly leaving the room, glad to be out of the situation. Even when Natalia was asleep, Steve had no idea how to act around a kid. Especially not one that had been through as much as Natalia.

The ice machine was just around the corner in the hall, so before long, Steve had a full bucket of ice and was standing back in front of the hotel room.

Shaking his head, Steve placed the ice down next to the door and started towards the gym.

– – – – –

Natasha didn't really want to wake Natalia up, but she knew that she had to get the girl cleaned up. She had no idea how long she had been in that alley, but the dirt and filth caked on her little body was proof that she hadn't had any care while she'd been homeless.

Natasha sighed, making up her mind as she stood up from the chair she was sitting in and quietly making her way to where she'd layed Natalia on one of the two hotel beds.

"Wake up, lets go get in the bath sweetheart." She gently shook Natalia, trying her best to keep her form and voice peaceful so she didn't startle the child.

This time, when Natalia finally blinked her eyes open, she didn't immediately start screaming. Instead she started whimpering, unsure of where she was for the second time that day.

Natasha held her arms open, comforting the girl before she could start actually crying. She picked Natalia up and rocked her gently as she carried her to the small hotel bathroom.

When Steve finally pushed the returned to the hotel room with the melted ice bucket in his hand, Natasha was just returning from the bathroom with a towel wrapped, clean Natalia in her arms.

Natasha didn't say anything as Steve guiltily held up the bucket, and she simply gave him a knowing look when he changed out of his sweaty shirt.

"Took you long enough, how was the gym?" She smiled internally as Steve shrugged his shoulder and bowed his head. She always enjoyed playing off the soldiers honesty, teasing him when ever it was possible. "Can you grab my t-shirt out of my bag? Natalia still doesn't have any clothes," she gestured to the black suitcase propped up against the wall across from where Steve was sitting on his bed.

Trying his best to avoid any of Natasha's other possessions, Steve dug around for a minute before finally pulling out Natasha's tight fitting, dark red t-shirt. He layed it on the bed next to Natalia, who was giggling as Natasha scrubbed her hair with the towel.

Natasha thanked him before she pulled the shirt over Natalia's head. The t-shirt, which was tight on Natasha when she wore it, fell loosely around Natalia's emaciated body. She ran her fingers around the neckline, gently pulling Natalia's long, curly, light brown hair out of the shirt so it poofed out around her shoulders.

Steve had to catch himself from reaching down to run his own fingers through Natalia's curls. Natasha, however, couldn't help herself.

Soon Natalia and Natasha were both sitting on her bed with the television turned on, Natalia sitting in Natasha's lap while she watched some puppet show Steve had put on for her. Natasha was repeatedly braiding and re-braiding her thick hair, providing comfort for both her and the little girl while it gave her something to do.

Steve was leaning against the table by the window, sipping on a bottle of water while he watched the two girls. While it was slightly odd to watch Natasha braid a child's hair, Steve wasn't all surprised given the obvious connection between the two. He had seen Natasha do things that others thought were out of the norm for her to do, but Steve knew that the cold persona Natasha showed everyone was just something she put up on the outside.

Steve had absolutely no doubt that Natasha loved the little girl sitting in her lap, and he found himself growing closer to her as well. He knew Clint adored Natalia, and that Tony was more than likely going to spoil her before they even got her settled into Stark Tower with them.

"I'm going to take a shower, can you watch her?" Natasha's voice pulled Steve out of his thoughts. "I won't be long, I promise." Natasha had already disappeared into the bathroom, leaving a very confused Steve alone with Natalia.

Steve contorted his face as he tried to process what Natahsa had just told didn't even notice when Natalia sat up and crawled to edge of the bed, turning around and lowering herself off as far as she ould before dropping to the ground.

"Game." Natalia whispered, pulling on Steve's hand when he didn't respond.

Steve shook his head, clearing his thoughts before turning his attention to the little girl. He crouched down so he was at eye level with the three year old. "What did you say?" He asked her.

Natalia smiled at him, choosing to point at the Stark pad he had put on the table instead of repeating herself. Natasha had been right, she simply didn't talk much.

"Oh, you want to play a game?" Steve stood up, grabbing the Stark pad off the table and handing it to Natalia. She shook her head, handing it back to him with both hands. Steve took it back, confused as to what the child wanted. Natalia took his hand and pulled him towards one of the beds.

Steve helped her back up onto the bed and then handed her the device, but she shook her head again. Sighing, Steve sat on the bed next to her, scooting back so his back was against the wall and his feet were stretched out in front of him. Natalia crawled over next to Steve, leaning against his side and swiping the Stark pad open.

Steve chuckled as she squirmed until she was comfortable, ending up with her head on his chest and one of her feet propped up on his thigh. She stuck two of her fingers in her mouth, using the other hand to play angry birds on the Stark pad.

Natasha found them like that ten minutes later, both man and toddler out like a light. Virtually alone, she grinned at the sight of Natalia cuddled up on Steve's chest, and Steve himself with one arm around her while he snored.

Shaking her head, Natasha climbed onto the bed and stretched out on the other side of Natalia, turning on her side so she could wrap on arm over the back of her daughter.


	5. Natasha's Permission

Natalia woke up every two hours screaming.

Natasha and Steve woke up each time to calm her down, Steve cradling and rocking her while Natasha sang her Russian lullabys.

After Natalia finally fell asleep, Steve would collapse where ever he had managed to wander in his attempt to calm the girl, and Natasha would fall asleep as close as she could get to Natalia without waking her up. Both them passed out a few minutes after the three year old did, which made for some golden photos.

Said photos were taken by Tony, who had taken it upon himself to not only hack into the hotels security system, but to also break into Natasha and Steve's hotel room every hour or so to take advantage of the two friends' somewhat compromising positions.

For instance, the second time Tony snapped a particularly dangerous picture of Natasha spooning with Steve, he had to drop to ground and out of Natasha's sight when his barely concealed guffaw made Natasha shoot up. He'd laid, pressed against the ground, for almost twenty minutes before he finally deemed in safe to crawl out of the room.

When Tony snuck into the room again at five in the morning, he once again almost woke Natasha up when he squealed. Natalia was standing right in front of him as he closed the door and turned around.

"Holy sh..." Tony smacked his hand over his mouth, glancing back and forth between Natasha and her daughter. When Natasha didn't make any motion to sit up and potentially kill him, Tony finally dropped his hand and let out a deep sigh.

"Hey kiddo, pretty sure you almost got me killed," Tony knelt down in front of Natalia. She had two fingers in her mouth and Steve's Stark pad in her other hand.

Natalia raised her arms above her head. "Up." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to pick you up? Are you sure Nattie?" Tony stood up straight.

Natalia huffed, standing on her tiptoes before whining. Tony hushed her.

"If you wake up your mother, I'm dead." Tony sighed, "Alright Nattie, here we go." He crouched down, carefully picking Natalia up by her armpits and holding her an arms length away. "Uh,"

Natalia giggled, taking her fingers out of her mouth and using her now free hand to bop Tony on the nose like Clint had taught her to.

"Tony grimaced. "Kiddo, your fingers are covered in drool." Tony chuckled as Natalia completely ignored what he said and again reached out for his nose.

"Boop." Natalia whispered. Tony chuckled as quietly as he could, eyeing Natasha's sleeping form from where she was currently sprawled across Steve's chest and stomach.

"Hey Nattie, do you want to go shopping?" Tony whispered as he pulled Natalia in and settled her on his hip before he quietly slipped out the hotel door.

– – – – –

After retrieving Clint from his and Tony's hotel room, the three of them took one of the remaining sports car to the nearest mall. They spent more than Clint would ever have at one time, but Tony obviously didn't mind as he threw whatever Natalia looked at into the cart.

By the time they were done, Natalia had about five blankets, ten pairs of shoes, more outfits than she could wear in a year, and more "necessary items" than Clint knew a five year old needed.

On the drive back, Natalia was sitting on Clint's lap, as Tony had been to lazy to set up her car seat.

She didn't seem to mind, apparently preferring to run her hands over Clint's face as he pretended to eat them.

They were a few minutes away from the hotel when Tony suddenly shouted a curse word and slammed on the gas pedal.

"What the hell Tony?!" Clint shouted at Tony, cradling Natalia's small body against his chest as she almost went flying off his lap in her unbalanced state.

"Natasha is going to kill me!" Tony maneuvered his way around the cars in his way, ignoring Clint's protest as he pulled Natalia closer to his chest.

Tony let out a string of curses, and Clint glared at him as Natalia started whimpering.

"What are you talking about, Tony. Why would Natasha..." Clint's eyes went wide. "You...you didn't tell Natasha you were taking Natalia?! Natasha didn't give you permission!?" Clint turned Natalia on his lap so she was facing him. "Natalia, your mother is going kill us. I hope you enjoyed us while we were here."

Tony slammed the gas pedal down, breaking more than his fair share of laws while he tried to get to the hotel before Natasha woke up and noticed her daughter was missing.

He didn't drive fast enough.

Tony guiltily and fearfully pulled into the hotel parking lot, wincing when Natalia ran towards his car. Clint threw his door open, holding Natalia up towards Natasha as she stalked towards him.

"Tony didn't tell me he hadn't asked permission to take Natalia!" He yelled fearfully as Natasha almost harshly yanked Natalia out of his arms and pulled her to her chest, all the while glaring at Tony and Clint.

Both of the men had their heads down, not so much in fear as in trying to avoid Natasha's deadly glare.

Steve stood a bit off to the sidelines, arms crossed as he watched Natasha cradle Natalia and run her hand through the little girls hair.

Neither Steve or Clint had been there when Natasha had woke up, almost having a panic attack when she noticed Natalia wasn't under her arm.

She'd been frantically searching around the hotel, yelling Natalia's name. Steve had noticed tears in her eyes whenever he glanced her direction, but he never mentioned it.

Now, as he noticed Natasha once again wiping tears out of her eyes while she whispered in Russian to Natalia, Steve aimed his attention towards Clint and Tony in the form of a Natasha-worthy glare.

Tony and Clint looked confused when they finally looked up. Natasha was sitting on the ground with her face buried in Natalia's hair and Steve was glaring at the two of them.

"What exactly is going on here?" Tony whispered to Clint, now attempting to avoid Steve's glare as well.

Clint raised his eyebrows and clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm not entirely sure," He rocked back and forth on his heels, studying Natasha's collapsed form from under his eyelashes.

Natasha held Natalia slightly away from her body, just enough so she could look her in the face. "Don't ever let Tony take you out when I'm asleep. You know what, Natalia? Don't ever get into the car with Tony." She glared at Tony again while Natalia started to weave her fingers through her mothers hair.

Tony knit his eyebrows together, turning his palms up and shrugging his shoulders. "What about Clint?!" Tony threw his hands in Clint's direction. "He helped!"

Clint raised his hands above his head. "Hey buddy, leave me out of this. I am currently apparently blame free." Clint's grin dropped off his face when he notices Natasha's once again steely glare.

"Oh, I'm going to chat with you separately." Natasha stood up, adjusting Natalia so she was balanced on her hip.

Clint swallowed audibly, glancing at Tony before bracing himself as Natasha stalked towards him.

Natalia whimpered when Natasha slapped Clint hard across his face.

"No!" Natalia screamed, whining and scrunching up her face as tears started to run.

Then Natasha leaned forward, almost falling into Clint.

Clint threw his hands up in surprise as Natasha started sobbing into his chest. After a second, and a pointed look from Tony, he slowly wrapped his arms around Natasha and Natalia, wrapping them both in a hug.

Steve made his way to where Tony was staring, mouth agape at the three in front of him.

"She was really worried when she woke up and Natalia was missing." He elbowed Tony. "Don't ever do that again, by the way. I will murder you myself."

Tony huffed and crossed his arms. "I only took her shopping. I'm her uncle, I'm allowed."

Steve shook his head and glared at Tony before continuing. "She really broke down. She adores Natalia a lot."

Tony nodded. "I know." He assumed his own sort of soldier stance, with his arms crossed and his feet shoulder length apart. "It's slightly freaky, seeing a dangerous assassin like that all caught up with a kid and all. But I can tell she really loves her already. Heck, we all do."

Steve nodded in agreement, watching as Clint absentmindedly ran his fingers through Natasha's hair while Natalia giggled and squirmed from her spot between Clint and Natasha.

When they finally broke apart, Natasha turned her head away and ran her fingers across her face in what Steve assumed was wiping tears off her face.

Natalia was leaning forward, holding her hands out for Clint, who gladly took her from Natasha.

Tony clapped his hands together loudly, drawing the attention of his teammates. "By the way, I spent maybe a thousand dollars on Natalia and I's shopping trip."


	6. Meeting The Team

After Natasha calmed down to the point where Tony didn't necessarily fear for his life, Steve drove them all towards their cars to finish the last half of their drive to Avengers Tower.

Tony had to change his shirt about five times before they left, because Natasha -and Natalia a few times- had knocked whatever drink he'd been carrying out of his hands whenever he got close to her. This resulted in a few beer stained shirts and a mildly irritated Tony.

He didn't complain too much though. Although he didn't let anyone know it, he felt horribly guilty for his morning shopping trip with Natalia. He didn't like the fact that he had, albeit accidentally, made Natasha worry as bad as she had. He actually felt horrible about it.

Natalia seemed to have forgiven him, smiling at him whenever he looked her direction and even leaning out of Natasha's arms a few times when he had gotten close.

Natasha, on the other hand, shot him a glare whenever they made eye contact. However, she still hadn't tried to kill him, so Tony considered himself at least safe if not almost completely off the hook.

After Natalia was returned to her mother, the team had sat in an uncomfortable silence together to eat breakfast. Natasha refused to let Natalia be held by anyone other than her or, in a few cases, Clint if she was busy.

Steve sat at one table with Tony, only a few feet from Clint and Natasha. They didn't talk much for the half hour they sat to eat their hotel breakfast, or the hour or so they spent loading and re-situating everything back into the trunks of the car. Natalia's things, courtesy of Tony, took up any free space in both trunks, as well as both backs seats of the sports cars.

Tony wasn't very excited when they had to strap the rest of the furniture to the roof of his and Steve's car, but he let it pass seeing as how it was his fault they had so much stuff to be loaded in the first place.

By the time they finally left the hotel, Fury had called Tony, demanding to be told why they were taking so long.

"I want you here yesterday Stark, so where have you been?" Fury's stern voice sounded over the speaker in the car. Tony rubbed his hand over his hair and face, trying to hide an annoyed groan.

He had made sure to mute Natasha and Clint's side of the call so Fury wouldn't hear Natalia, but he had no idea how to convince Fury that the team had a logical reason to draw out their return trip home that didn't include Natasha's new daughter. At least of yet, they were putting off telling Fury about the vulnerable girl until she was safely secured where Fury wouldn't be able to send her back.

"Look Fury, we all just stopped for a drink and some shawarma, the mission was a little hard on us all." Tony didn't miss Steve's cringe at the lie, and he himself winced as soon as it came out. He knew it was a poor attempt, but he was too tired to think up a good lie at that moment. He was sure it would to him later, probably after he ended the call with Fury.

"Stark, I know you didn't just tell me the mission, where you went after some lower level, amateur terrorists, was HARD ON YOU ALL!?" Steve winced and Tony scrambled to turn down the volume of the speakers as Fury's yell sounded through the closed space.

Tony grimaced. "Well be back before dinner, mom. Gotta go." Tony leaned forward and hung up the call before Fury could yell at him some more.

"That didn't go horrible," Clint sounded cheerful from his and Natasha's car as soon as Tony un-muted their line. Natalia gurgled as if adding her own comment, laughing and clapping her hands together at what Tony and Steve could only assume was a funny show from Clint.

It was still weird to Tony, the fact that both the two deadly assassins were so quickly and completely taken by the tiny girl Natasha had recovered. Of course, Tony loved her as well, and even Steve seemed to enjoy being around her. Her personality was simply endearing, and anyone near her was immediately drawn to her. Her laugh was contagious, and her tears were heart-wrenching.

But still, Tony had almost never seen any real emotion from Natasha that wasn't put on as a mask, and the few times he had, it was a slight give away to her thoughts in extreme cases while on missions, or a few times while the group was all together and enjoying a night out. She simply didn't like to show emotion, and Tony respected that - although it didn't stop him from poking her with a stick every now and then.

"Maybe we should wait for a while after we get back to tell Fury about Natalia," Natasha almost whispered.

"We can't do that," Steve almost looked appalled at the thought. "Fury need's to know about everything that went down on the mission, that's what the debriefing is for."

Tony smacked Steve. "Fury doesn't need to know all the details, and Natalia wasn't even a part of the mission in the first place. There's no reason we have to tell him." Tony directed his comment to Natasha and Clint. "At least not yet."

oOo

When the team got within a few miles of Avengers Tower, the two cars split up. Tony and Steve continued on the direct path to the tower while Clint and Natasha slipped down a back-way to the tower, hoping to avoid alerting SHIELD to their presence.

Natalia was passed out on Clint's chest in the passenger seat, mouth wide open and drooling all over his purple sweatshirt. Clint himself was also asleep, although he shook himself awake every few minutes to check on Natalia before he passed out again. Natasha found herself glancing over at the scene too many times to be safe while she was driving, but she couldn't help it. They were too adorable to ignore.

"Hey Bruce, Clint and I are going to need some help down here," Natasha whispered into her smart phone -courtesy of one Anthony Stark- as she carefully got out of the drivers seat and gently closed the door behind her.

"Why are you whispering Nat?" Bruce sounded slightly confused, but Natasha could hear his heavy footsteps making their ways down the stairs.

"We've got a lot of things to haul upstairs, and I've got to carry Natalia." Natasha made her way to the other side of the car as she talked, smiling into the phone as she watched Clint wrap his arm around Natalia's upper back. "She fell asleep on Clint on the drive here."

"Wait, what? Nat, who's Natalia? And how did someone fall asleep on Hawkeye?"

Natasha froze. "Tony didn't tell you about Natalia?" She pictured strangling the scientist for the fifth time that week in her mind.

"Apparently not!" Bruce sighed into his end. "I'm almost there, you can explain in a minute."

Natasha slid the phone into her back pocket before opening the passenger side door Clint was leaning up against. In one smooth motion, she gently scooped Natalia out of Clint's arms and safely into hers while she stepped backwards to avoid his falling form.

"Shi-" Clint fell onto the driveway with an oomph and Natasha fought to contain her snicker.

"Sorry Clint," She held out a hand to help him up and then dusted the dirt and gravel off of his damp sweatshirt.

Clint glared at her, moving to the back of the car and mumbling under his breath.

Natasha moved to the side of the car closest to the doors Bruce would be coming through any minute and took in her surroundings. She had observed them as soon as they arrived, but now she was just appreciating the view while she waited for Bruce.

The "back door" as Tony had named it was at the base of the tower, hidden by surrounding buildings and concealed almost like an alley. Natasha appreciated the calm and soft darkness of the space, as well as the surprising cleanliness of the area despite being located in an alley.

Bruce swung open the double doors and dogged them open for Clint before turning his attention to Natasha. His face went pale at the sight of the four year old wrapped up in her arms, and for a minute Natasha gripped Natalia closer to her chest.

Then Bruce cleared hid throat and took a few steps forward. "So this is Natalia?" He gestured to the child, offering Natasha a small smile.

Natasha took a deep breath, returned the smile, and then made her way towards hims so that they met half way. "Yes, I found her alone on the mission."

Bruce ran his hand through his hair."Is she-" He drifted off, glancing between the two in front of him before looking away.

"She's mine." Natasha held her chin up. "I'm adopting her."

Bruce let out a visible breath, returning his gaze to Natalia. "She looks malnourished," He looked up at Natasha. "Is it alright if I look her over once we get everything unloaded?" He gestured towards a still grumbling Clint, who had just returned to the car for yet another arm load of Natalia's presents -once again provided by Stark- and was currently glaring at Bruce.

"Natasha's gotta hold Natalia, I get that. But how about you," He gave a pointed look at the doctor, "quit your yapping and help me get her things upstairs.


	7. Do You Want To Hold Her?

Chapter Seven

Tony and Steve wouldn't sit still.

Fury sat at one end of the table, glaring at the two avengers across the room. Tony was looking around the room literally twiddling his thumbs as he deliberately avoided the directors glare, while Steve simply sat back in his chair with his arms crossed staring at his lap.

Fury sighed. "Alright you two, you have ten minutes to explain why you were so late back from the mission as well as why Black Widow and Hawkeye aren't present at this debriefing." He glanced at his watch before adding, "And your time starts now."

Steve sighed and leaned forward, carefully looking up to make eye-contact with Fury. "We-" He started before trailing off and lowering his gaze again. Tony rolled his eyes.

Sighing exasperatedly, he tipped his chair back and propped his feet up on the table, resting his hands behind his head and looking up at Fury. "We were late because we all decided to spend an extra day to take a break at a hotel after the mission. Natashalie and Bird-brain aren't here because they split off from Stevie and I to spend some private time together - don't ask me, that's all I know." He raised an eyebrow at Fury, undaunted by the glare after being personally threatened by an assassin not 24 hours before. "Can we go now? I was hoping to catch the spider and bird before my phone died."

Fury narrowed his eye, glancing back and forth between Tony's defiant gaze and Steve's averted blush. A solid five minutes of awkward and tense silence passed before Fury finally stood up. "Fine. If that's your story and that's what you're sticking with, I guess we're done here."

Steve sprang up, still avoiding Fury as he muttered a quick, "Thank you sir." Tony took his time standing up and nodding at Fury with his stupid, trademark grin on his face.

"See ya at the next debriefing, Eyepatch." He threw a quick, sloppy salute at the director before finally turning to follow Steve out of the room. Fury's glare followed them all the way out the door.

Steve was waiting for him outside the room, and the two made their way to the elevator in silence. As the elevator doors closed behind them, Steve turned to Tony. "What are we going to do when Fury find's out we lied about the mission?!"

"He's not going to find out," Tony sighed, dramatically leaning back and looking at the ceiling in despair. "I'm a great liar." He winked, patting Steve on the shoulder as the elevator doors opened.

Steve buried his face in his hands, shaking his head as Tony walked out of the building.

"I was right." Bruce turned to where Natasha was sitting with tony-dubbed "Nattie" wrapped in her arms. "She's severely malnourished, and she's pretty sick too." He held his Stark-pad out to Natasha to show her the scans.

The pair were sitting on a silver table in the Stark Tower medical room, Nattie sitting on Natasha's lap asleep and bundled up in her blanket. Natasha had complied long enough for Bruce to scan and prod Natalia a bit, before an uncomfortable whine drew Natasha back to the table.

"Nothing that can't be fixed though, right?" Natasha glared at the pad in her hand, a if it was the reason Natalia wasn't healthy. Bruce ran a hand through his hair before taking the pad back.

"Of course not…" He turned the pad off and set it aside,leaning against the table next to Natasha. "But it will take some time. She's going to be very weak and vulnerable for a while." He glanced over Natasha's arm at the sleeping four year old.

Natasha followed his gaze. "It explains all the sleeping." She turned her attention back to Bruce. The two shared a silent worried look before they heard the door to the medic room open.

"I'm telling you Tony, he's going to find out and when he does, he's going to be very angry."

"And I'm telling you Cap, I'm a _great_ liar."

Tony burst through the door, closely followed by a nervous looking Steve. "Hey! Natasha, how's the little squirt?" He made his way to where Bruce and Natasha were at the table and took the offered Stark-pad from Bruce. Steve settled a few feet away, taking his soldier stance next to a monitor and IV stand.

"Ewhh…" Tony glanced from the pad to Nattie and back again. "Well, at least it's nothing permanent." He avoided Natasha's glare, moving to sit next to Bruce.

"So I told Mr. Pirate that we were all late back from the mission because we took a break at a hotel -which we did- and that I had no idea where you and Clint were." Tony looked to Natasha for approval. After she nodded, he looked around the room. "Where is Bird-brain? Didn't he come up with all of you?"

Natasha smiled. "He's putting together Natalia's room," she resituated herself and Nattie, carefully pushing herself off the table to land gracefully on the ground. She turned to Bruce, surprising everyone in the room by holding her out to him. "Do you want to hold her?"

The three men shared looks of confusion and fear; Tony shaking his head, Steve shrugging his shoulders, and Bruce going pale.

"Uh, sure…" Bruce held his arms out, carefully taking the child from Natahsa's outstreatched arms. She barely twitched in her sleep during the transition. Natasha stood in front of Bruce for a moment, watching him resistate with a blank look on her face.

"Uh, Natasha," Tony took a wary step forward, raising his hands a bit in a mock form of surrender. "Are you okay?"

Natasha shook her head, blinking a couple of times before moving. "I'm fine Tony," she leaned towards Bruce, putting a hand on his shoulder and kissing Nattie on her forehead. "I trust you guys." She stood still a minute more before looking from Bruce to Nattie and back again.

"We'll take good care of her, Natasha." Steve stepped closer, giving her a warm smile and placing a hand on her shoulder. Natasha left the room with a quick nod and a thankful smile.


	8. What Do We Have Here?

Natasha hovered outside the door to the medbay for a moment, listening to Nattie laugh and clap her hands as Bruce must have lifted her in the air. She turned to leave, listening to Tony's worried rambling as she walked away.

Clint was supposed to be setting up Natalias stuff in the room a door down from Natasha's bedroom on her floor. If she was honest with herself, Natasha knew that setting up a room was a waste seeing as Nattie would more than likely spend most of her nights in Natasha's room anyway. there was little to no chance that Natasha would let Nattie out of her sight for awhile, at least not until Natalia grew more familiar with the tower and its inhabitants.

As soon as the elevator doors opened to reveal her floor, Natasha spotted most of Nattie's stuff sitting haphazardly around her living room and hallway. The door designated for Natties room was opened, and as she made her way through the littered hall she could hear frustrated grunts and few irritated grumblings. "Clint?" She leaned against the doorway, holding back a grin as she watched the man glare at a half assembled crib.

He looked up sharply, his cheeks turning a bright red. "Nat! This, thing," he gestured towards the crib with the screwdriver in his hand. "Is a creation from hell. i swear, it makes no sense." He reached towards the discarded instructions, handing them to her as she cleared a space to sit next to him. "And the instructions are stupid."

Natasha laughed, looking over the instructions and glancing between the diagrams and Clint's monstrosity. "Are you sure you're reading them right? The diagrams look a bit different than what you've managed to create." She grinned as Clint glared at her, handing her the screwdriver and sitting back on his heels.

"Well you do it then if you're so good at assembling cribs." Natasha knew he was joking with her, but the words stirred up the fear she'd been pushing down since adopting Natalia. Clint glanced at her when she didn't start working on the crib. "Nat?" He slid one leg out from under him so that his body turned to follow and he was facing her.

"It's just," She grimaced, knowing that she sounded week. The only thing that let her continue was the fact that this was Clint, and she trusted him like no other. "I've never done this, what if I'm not any good at it?" She looked between the screwdriver in her hand and the instructions in the other.

"What, assembling a crib?" Clint furrowed his eyebrows. "Im sure we can figure it out."

Natasha smiled. "No, not the crib." She turned her body and sat cross legged facing him. "Taking care of a toddler." Clint tilted his head back and nodded to himself.

"Ah." He leaned forward, taking the tool and papers from Natasha's hands and setting them next to the crib. He placed his hands just behind him and leaned back comfortably. "Nat, first off, you aren't alone. You have the whole team to help you with this." He tried not to speak softly, knowing that Natasha would see it as more condescending than comforting. She didn't speak up, so he continued. "Second off, Nattie loves you. She doesn't exactly know what a traditionally perfect parent is like, there's no way that you can screw up bad enough to make her feel any differently for you."

Natasha was looking over Clints shoulder at the light grey colored wall behind him. He reached forward slowly and let his hand rest on her shoulder. "You're a great mother for her." He smiled as her eyes left their thousand-yard stare and met his. She gave him an appreciative smile, reaching up to her shoulder and covering his hand with her own.

"Thank you, Clint." She whispered, grateful he was ignoring her obvious weakness. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat, trying to pull all of her emotions back to where they belonged. "So, let's get this crib set up, yeah?"

OoOoOoOo

Bruce held Nattie securely on his hip, still standing in the same position he was when Natasha had left the room. Tony paced back and forth just inside the door, muttering to himself about near death experiences and watching for Natasha. Steve was casually leaning against the hospital bed, watching Nattie play with a Stark-pad and every now and then reaching out to tap a button she hadn't seen yet.

"Tony, you aren't even the one holding her. Stop pacing, you're making me more nervous." Bruce glared at the genius, trying to shift Nattie without disturbing her. "Tony, I'm serious!" He whispered loudly, trying to yell at his teammate without risking scarring Nattie. Tony stopped abruptly, leaning against the wall beside the doorway instead.

"Sorry, Brucy, I'm just busy worrying for our lives." He crossed his arms, slumping against the door way more and more until he slid down to the ground with an "oomph." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"We're not going to die, I'm holding her securely and she's perfectly happy and safe. Nothing is going to-"

"What do we have here?"


	9. Well Crap

Banner froze, arms stiffening around Nattie, who looked up startled and whimpered before burying her face in Bruce's shoulder. Tony looked up at the man in the doorway with him so fast that he knocked his head against the doorpost with an audible crack, and Steve simply stiffened in his soldier stance.

Fury narrowed his eye, first at Tony, then at Steve, then to Bruce. He ignored Nattie almost completely. "Nothing suspicious at all, huh Stark?" He glared down at the frozen man at his feet. "You really are an amazing liar."

Tony gulped, crawling away a few feet before pushing himself up quickly and facing Fury. He dusted off his clothing, trying to appear nonchalant as he spoke. "Hey, no harm done. I told you everything that was necessary, isn't that right Cap?" He turned towards Steve, slowly making his way towards Bruce to stand a bit in front of Nattie. A small hand found its way to the back of his shirt, gripping it tight.

Steve readjusted his stance. "For the record sir, I-"

"Shut up Rogers. I'm not concerned about the lies. As director, I simply want to know what's going on!" He raised his voice as he spoke, so the last few words were almost a yell.

Tony winced and growled when the little hand gripped his shirt tighter. Bruce moved his hand to stroke Natties hair to try and calm her down, as she had started almost sobbing when Fury started yelling.

"Well! Someo-" Fury's loud voice was cut off as he was slammed against the doorway, an angry Natasha's forearm pressed against his throat.

Normally, Fury would start yelling and dishing out punishments at this point, but the cold anger in Natasha's eyes stopped even his voice.

Natasha's eyes glanced across the room to where Tony was standing in front of a cradled Nattie held by Bruce. Her sobs seemed to sign Fury's death warrant as he was suddenly slammed against the wall again.

Bruce leaned down and whispered something into Nattie's ear, removing his hand from her hair to point at the door way. Tony stepped to the side so the little girl could have a clearer view of Natasha, who had Fury in a death grip and was about to slam him into the wall again.

A quiet "Mmm-uh" made it's way to Natasha, and her hold on Fury's collar relaxed a moment. She turned towards Nattie, who was leaning out of Bruce's secure hold with her arms out. "Mmm-uh!" Natasha let go of Fury's collar, glaring at him with a silent threat before softening her features and rushing across the room to Nattie.

Bruce and Tony almost jumped back, Bruce with his arms out for Natasha to take Nattie. As soon as she was in her arms, Natasha kissed the top of Nattie's head and whispered to her. She ignored Fury's presence in the room as she started to rock Nattie, who herself was busy with running her hand over Natasha's face and through her hair.

Bruce and Tony made their way to stand in the middle of the room, blocking Fury from Natasha's view and visa versa as they glared and crossed their arms. Fury, however, half stood half leaned against the doorway as if he was trying to get his bearings. His eye was narrowed, staring at the door beam across from his as he seemed to try and understand what had just happened.

Steve stood off to the side, looking unsure and nervous. He cleared his throat, "umm, sir?" He took a step forward, as if to try and help the director, but Fury held out his hand.

"Someone needs to explain what's going on, right now." He almost whispered, pushing off the door and making his ways towards the floors livingroom. Steve nodded and made his way quickly after him. "I don't need help, Rogers!"

Bruce and Tony exchanged looks, glancing back at Natasha before following Fury out of the room. Natasha stayed where she was, smiling at the girl in her arms as she babbled and traced her features.

oOoOoOoOo

Fury stood across from the two couches in the large open room. Tony and Bruce sat on of said couches, Tony slouched and relaxed while Bruce sat straight with his hands nervously clasped in his lap. Steve stood in front of the other couch, not so much unsure as whether he should sit as he simply didn't want to relax.

Fury rubbed his temples with two fingers, working away a harsh headache as he tried to piece together what had happened in the room. "So…" he looked up over his hand, looking each present Avenger in the eyes. "Who's going to start?"

Tony cleared his throat and sat forward, raising a hand and opening his mouth to start. "Not you Stark." He feigned hurt and sat back in plush couch relieved.

Fury made eye contact with Bruce. "Banner, what exactly is going on?"

Bruce squirmed nervously, stuttering. "I-I don't really know what, what happened in the field during the, the mission. But, umm," He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know that Natasha found an abandoned toddler and decided to adopt her… so…" He glanced up at Fury, relaxing back when the Director didn't ask for more.

"Rogers?" Fury didn't make eye contact, instead towards the room where Natasha was still with Nattie. Steve shrugged his shoulders.

"That's about it, sir." He glanced at Bruce before turning his attention back to Fury. "Natasha found a girl during the mission and has so far shown extreme signs of wanting to care for her."

Fury nodded. "So the little girl sobbing in the room behind you is Natasha Romanov's new daughter." He glanced to the others for confirmation. "The little girl, who is crying, because I yelled." Nods again went around the room, and Fury sighed audibly. "Crap."


End file.
